Tag Archives: Amber Decker

After reading the many submissions that arrived from coast to coast, the semi-sober judges of Six Ft. Swells Press, have unanimously chosen the winner of the 2014 Who Left Who Poetry contest! The last poem submitted minutes to the midnight deadline, stood out; alone like Achilles on the battlefield, a true poetry champion that caused us to raise our glasses high and remember that poetry can kick ass…you will certainly be seeing more from this poet. The Winner…Madeline Levy!!! We are proud to publish her and she will receive a signed copy of our latest release, “The Girl Who Left You” by Amber Decker. And now the winning poem:

The Glass is Always Half-Full, When It’s Not Around

As I drove through the Interstates,
I fell in love with you.

Your annoying habits
became endearing.
I started to admire the way
you yell in public.
Started to miss
closing the toothpaste cap
every morning.

I had to cross
the Mason-Dixon line
to realize
how beautiful you are–

when I’m leaving.

Madeline Levy is from Fair Lawn, New Jersey currently living in New Orleans, LA. She’s a waitress at Sweet Lorraine’s Jazz Club, where she barely ever spills wine on her customers. Her voice is commonly compared to Fran Drescher from The Nanny, and she’s still trying to figure out if that’s a compliment or an insult. When she’s not reading, writing, or laughing at her own jokes, Madeline enjoys successfully taking only one trip into the house with all her groceries, pretending to get references she’s never heard before and when her favorite coffee shop employee actually sees her putting a buck in the tip jar.

Madeline writes spoken word, and performs sporadically. Lately, she has been experimenting with shorter, meant-for-the-page-type poems. She was inspired by Todd Cirillo and his book “Sucker’s Paradise”, which made her feel all types a weird. In a good way!

Send us a poem or two that is 20 lines or less about the one who left you OR if you were the lucky one to leave them, to http://www.sixfootswells@yahoo.com with SUBMIT in the subject line and if chosen, you will receive A FREE signed copy of Six Ft. Swell’s new release, The Girl Who Left You by Amber Decker! As Al Swearengen says “Free Fucking Gratis!” The deadline is extended for your pleasure to midnight Monday October 27. C’mon all you poets out there…give us your passion or pain in 20 lines or less and you just might get something in return. We, at Six Ft. Swells Press, believe in returning the favor.

The deadline to submit is Sunday October 19th at midnight.

The winner will receive one personally autographed copy of The Girl Who Left You, and the winning poem will be featured here on afterhourspoetry.com, and on our Six Ft. Swells Facebook page.

A Nip of Inspiration from The Girl Who Left You

excerpted from the poem, Camouflage:

… Tucked against your chest, it took hours
for me to fall asleep, so afraid
I would wake in flames
or as ash in a blue dish at your feet.
Hush, you whispered
like a shepherd to his flock
on a full-moon night.
Or the wolf, under his breath, who answers
I’m here. I’m here.
***

Today, we at Six Ft. Swells are proud to announce that our newest title, The Girl Who Left You by Amber Decker, is now available! Grab a coldie, find someone you want to know intimately, turn the lights down and open the book up to lines such as:

“Sleep never comes soon enough

to those who suffer

in the arms of the ones

they do not love.”

It is a rare book that you will devour from cover to cover in one sitting like a bag of potato chips. It is a delicious, naughty, feels-so-good affair without guilt–brought to you by Six Ft. Swells Press, who always gives it to you real good.

Our co-conspirator, Todd Cirillo, says, “Amber writes with unmasked bravery, a fierceness followed by sexy, followed by sadness and then strength. Poems of Dairy Queens, cornfields, backseats on backroads, the starting of something new and the holding onto what once was. That sound of the first button popping off, the zipper going down, and the way the shadows hit the space all around.”

Mmmm, can’t you just taste it already? The Girl Who Left You is #4 in our “Top Shelf Poetry” series, and is available on Amazon.

Hello Mates!
Yes, we are sailing in the summer breeze, frosty brews in hand, smiling up at the sun. We haven’t just been kicking our feet up, though, there is work being done after hours that is causing all the smiling. We are happy as New Orleans clams (wait, there are clams in NOLA, right?) to announce that we will soon be releasing a new book of poetry!

Poet Amber Decker

This is exciting news in itself, but when you see this collection of poems by the amazing Amber Decker of West Virgina, titled, The Girl Who Left You, everyone will be raising their mugs to her talent and ability to knock us on our asses with one phrase. In true After Hours fashion, Amber’s poems are so visceral and rich, we can almost drink them. And if they were whiskey, we’d drink the whole bottle, loving the way it burned all the way down.

Here is what we’re talking about:

AT 7PM
by Amber Decker

You board a plane to Las Vegas
bound for a supporting role in a wedding
you do not believe has anything to do with love.
Earlier, we’d made love on an old mattress
on the floor of your best friend’s apartment,
the hard shell of your suitcase banging
into my knee, your mouth wet
with the harsh scrape of my name.
There was little romance in it,
only the frenzied unleashing
of the not-knowing,
the possibility of unhappy endings, cutthroat desire.
I do not love you.
Or, rather, I love you
as I would love a deck of cards
while waiting for a train or a bus.
Our goodbyes fly across a crowded room
like small white birds.
At the ticket counter,
you kiss me with lips smooth as Carey Grant.
In the car, the radio plays songs to name
every sort of love
that does not bloom
in my heart for you,
and the long white lines of the road,
like dark-haired college boys
with bodies pale as ghosts,
take me home to bed.

***

So, friends, pour yourselves a coldie, grab your nearest sweetheart, and kick your feet up (for us). The Girl Who Left You will arrive shortly, and you’ll want to receive her properly.